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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Hospital Volunteer Saves A Life....

So at Hospital B I volunteer in the CT Department and Some Patients come into the ED with iodine & sulfa allergies. So when the MD in the ED ordered a CT Chest PE (Pulmonary Embolism) protocol for this gentleman who was allergic to the contrast dye that we pump into a patient so we can see if there is/was clots,blood flow where there shouldn't be etc... They prepped him per hospital protocol waited for the meds to kick in and then he sent him over for us to scan him. So the tech takes the "Scout" scans first to make sure everything is in line and that it looks good. Then she took the first part of the scan with out contrast then during the pause where she can go in and start pumping the contrast in our patient also while making sure the vein doesn't blow, the pump didn't blow the syringe full of contrast up (has happened before) etc....

She then proceeded to come back start up the scanner and make it hum (or scream) because it is such a high resolution scan the scanner is taking "Slices" or Pictures every two or so seconds. Lots of radiation with this type of scan too. So she pumps the patient full of contrast then all of a sudden I notice the patent stops breathing I let the tech who is looking at the slices as they appear on the screen... she yells (because the scanner is really loud with a PE protocol) over the scanners PA system "ARE YOU OK?" No response.... she slammed the big red emergency stop button and runs into the room she yells at me to call a STAT then get the Ambu Bag and help her.

I get a hold of the STAT Operator "STAT IN CT 1!" I yelled into the phone... "Are you sure?" she asked. My exact words where "I SURE AS HELL AM! HE IS CODING ON THE TABLE AND THE TECH IS STARTING COMPRESSIONS!" "Ok, I will Page a STAT" I run in grab the Ambu bag remembered the ABCD's,Head Tilt ,Chin Lift, E/C Hold and started 2 squeezes of the bag after the tech paused compressions,re-assessed & switched places... It seemed like forever for the stat page to go over the PA.... The stat team from the ED across the hall arrived in about 45 seconds and took over and carted him off to the trauma bay. He survived according to the Grumpy ED doc "Because of Our Quick Actions" I about fell out of my chair Half because he NEVER EVER speaks to us or other staff (unless to give orders) and the other half from me coming off of my adrenaline high... After that My shift was up and I had to go to work.

Oh, Just so you all know I wasn't suppose to assist the tech with CPR because it's a liability even though yours truly has a BLS and is currently working on my ACLS and PAL certs. The tech and the hospital still deny it to this day.